Copay Adjustment Programs: What Are They and What Do They Mean for Consumers?

Drug makers sometimes offer copay coupons to lower consumers’ out-of-pocket costs for their brand-name prescriptions, though how private health plans treat those coupons can substantially limit their value to consumers. This issue brief provides an overview of such copay adjustment programs, stakeholder arguments for and against their use, their prevalence, and federal and state efforts to address them.